Mālama Honua: ʻOhana Hōkūleʻa, Episode 3

“You’re looking at a voyage that would take Hōkūleʻa from Hawaiʻi for three years. You’d be sailing for at least 45,000 nautical miles. It would be by far the most dangerous thing we would ever consider doing as a voyaging family. The risks are huge. But on the other side, the possibilities are enormous…We’re not going to change the world; we’re going to build a network of people around the Earth who are going to change it. And our job is to help them be successful.”

– Nainoa Thompson

Episode 3

As Hawaiʻi’s storied double-hulled canoe Hōkūleʻa circumnavigates the globe over the next three years, crew members will experience amazing segments of this journey, each unique in their own way. The Hawai’i to Tahiti leg was the fastest crossing ever of this ancestral pathway, a 16-day voyage crewmembers will not soon forget. The second leg, equally amazing, would take the waʻa and her crew to 11 different ports, over 44 days, as they sailed from Tahiti all the way to Sāmoa. Join us for the third episode in our four-part series as we follow along with this crew that truly embodies the ʻOhana Hōkūleʻa representing waʻa communities from Hilo to Rarotonga. In addition to the waʻa that Hōkūleʻa has given birth to over the years, she has also birthed a new generation of sailors. We meet three fathers who were part of Hōkūleʻa’s early voyages, whose daughters have grown up to follow in their footsteps and are taking a role in raising even more generations voyagers who will continue to sail in the wake of their ancestors.

About the Series

Nearly 40 years ago, the founders of the Polynesian Voyaging Society dreamed of rebuilding a double-hulled canoe similar to those of our ancestors. What began as an effort to disprove critics who doubted Polynesians’ ability to sail purposefully and settle their vast nation unaided by navigational instruments has grown into a cultural reawakening, a new generation of leaders, and a living commitment to sustainability.

Hōkūleʻa originally sailed to rediscover and then to reconnect. Now she’s circling the globe carrying a message of Mālama Honua, or caring for Our Island Earth, as we struggle with the degradation of our land and oceans with the firm belief that our ancient wisdom will inspire contemporary solutions.

Join in this movement as we sail through the past, and venture into new waters of relationships and change!